title: [Clinical study on treatment of atopic dermatitis by integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To observe the clinical effects and explore the mechanism of the integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine in treating atopic dermatitis (AD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-seven patients with AD were randomly assigned to two groups, the control group and the treated group, they were treated with conventional Western medicine (10 mg Loratadine tablet, once daily) and with integrated medicine additionally given modified Jiawei Danggui Decection besides Western medicine respectively for 4 weeks. Double-sandwich ELISA was used to detect the levels of interleukin- 4, -10 and -12 (IL-4, IL-10 and IL-12) before and after treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The total effective rate in the treated group was 56% (14/25 cases), better than that in the control group (22.7%, 5/22 cases), showing significant difference between the two groups (X2 = 5.38, P < 0.05). Before treatment the serum levels of IL-4, IL-10 were significantly higher and level of IL-12 was lower in AD patients as compared with those in healthy persons (P < 0.01); they all restored to normal in the treated group after treatment but unchanged in the control group, showing significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The clinical effect of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine is ascertainable, its mechanism might be associated with the regulation on related cytokines.
authors.affiliation: The Second Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan 250033. syj623@163.com
authors.forename: Yong-jian
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Chun-min
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Dong-mei
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D055048:Integrative Medicine; D017336:Loratadine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D017336:Loratadine